Foldable greeting cards having multiple panels connected by fold lines are desirable for the large amount of graphic area provided and structural distinctiveness. Large scale manufacture of such cards is difficult in processes in which the fold lines which connect the panels are formed after the card is cut from card stock. Automated folding is difficult with cards having non-linear peripheral edges to the panels. This is why folding cards are generally rectangular and the fold lines extend the entire length of the panels.
To form multiple panel cards with panels having curved and/or intricately shaped peripheral edges, it is preferred to die cut around an entire periphery (360.degree.) of the front and back panels of the card while the card is in a folded configuration. This, however, results in cutting off the fold lines and thereby disconnecting the panels. U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,980 discloses a method of 360.degree. die cutting a multi-panel card in a folded configuration wherein the fold lines are cut off and the panels remain connected by adhesive applied proximate to common peripheral edges of adjoining panels at areas coincident with the fold lines.
It is also desirable to 360.degree. die cut cards which have a uniquely finished or textured cover panel which is adhesively attached or "tipped-on" to a folding panel of the card, whereby an entire periphery of the front panel could be intricately shaped, along with the other panels of the card. However, a similar problem arises in which the die cutting eliminates the fold line which connects the foldable panels, including the panel which supports the tipped-on panel. These constraints of prior approaches to foldable multi-panel cards increase production costs and thereby limit the number of card designs of this type available.